Comments for photonicsmedia.net

Comment on Protected: A Picture on a Screen (a) by Brogan

Brogan — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:07:45 +0000

Comment on Flowering months by Jo Law

Jo Law — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 01:04:50 +0000

The traditional Japanese names for months are as follows (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calendar#Traditional_names):

1. 1st month of the lunar calendar: 睦月 (mutsuki, affection month)
2. 2nd month of the lunar calendar: 如月 or 衣更着 (kisaragi or kinusaragi, changing clothes)
3. 3rd month of the lunar calendar: 弥生 (yayoi, new life; the beginning of spring)
4. 4th month of the lunar calendar: 卯月 (uzuki, u-no-hana month; the u-no-hana is a flower, genus Deutzia)
5. 5th month of the lunar calendar: 皐月 or 早苗月 (satsuki or sanaetsuki, early-rice-planting month)
6. 6th month of the lunar calendar: 水無月 (minatsuki or minazuki, month of water—the 無 character, which normally means “not”, is here ateji, that is, used only for the sound “na”. In this name the na is actually a possessive particle, so Minazuki means “month of water”, not “month without water”, and some say this is in reference to the flooding of the rice fields. Some have suggested[who?], however, that the name “waterless month” would have been appropriate since this month would have been the month after the end of the monsoon rains.)
7. 7th month of the lunar calendar: 文月 (fumizuki, book month)
8. 8th month of the lunar calendar: 葉月 (hazuki, leaf month; In old Japanese, It’s called 葉落ち月(haochizuki). It means “leaves falling month”)[2]
9. 9th month of the lunar calendar: 長月 (nagatsuki, long month)[2]
10. 10th month of the lunar calendar: 神無月 (kaminazuki or kannazuki, “month without gods—but analogous to the name of the 6th month, the 無 character here could be the same possessive particle “na”, making this “month of the gods”) In Izumo province, modern-day Shimane Prefecture, this is emended to 神有月 or 神在月 (kamiarizuki, roughly “month with gods”), as all the gods are believed to gather there for an annual meeting at the Izumo Shrine.
11. 11th month of the lunar calendar: 霜月 (shimotsuki, frost month)
12. 12th month of the lunar calendar: 師走 (shiwasu, priests run; -priests are busy making end of year prayers and blessings.)

Comment on Minor snow: Rainbows hide (3 of 5) by jolaw

jolaw — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:50:41 +0000

Lucas, you can get soil testing kits from nusery, garden shop, or hardware store. They are inexpensive and last quite a number of tests. The pH kit only tests pH. This is particularly important if you have cropping vegetables because different plants have their own optimal pH whcich they can absorb nutrients from the soil. Soil that is too sour or too sweet locks in these essential elements.

As for contanimation, I think that would be a pretty specialised kit. We did have a soil scientist come our garden in Perth to test for the ‘mysterious’ death for the plants in our front yard.

Comment on Minor snow: Rainbows hide (4 of 5) by jolaw

jolaw — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:32:08 +0000

Mmm…. do you think I should also start a series of illustrated books focusing on the character of ‘Farmer Red’? I often find the practice of illustrated children’s books attractive. (My first ambition was to become a manga artist. I actually completed one book, which took me a whole year. It was about how my cousin, Ellen, came to marry a bear. I was 14.)

Reminiscences aside, systemtic earthworks are very appealing. The scene of harvested hay bale dotted across large area of land is just impressive – installation works would have a hard time competing with that.

Comment on Minor snow: Rainbows hide (5 of 5) by jolaw

jolaw — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:23:23 +0000

I often wondered about that too. According to Dr. Tony Young, the author of ‘A Field Guide to the Fungi of Australia’, the distinction between the terms, toadstool and mushroom, has no scientific basis. Rather, it is in common usage; namely that mushroom is edible and toadstool is toxic. Dr. Young’s opinion is that the application of the two terms is unhelpful as the distinction is often made on a unscientific basis that does not distinguishing whether a marcro fungs is truely toxic. I guess what he is saying what we call mushroom and what we call toadstool seem to be determined culturally. Sometimes mushroom is applied to quite poisonous species and sometimes a fungus is called toadstool simply because we don’t eat it (but other people might and it’s not toxic).

As for toad and frog, the distinction seems to be one of appearance and characteristics. Like toadstool and mushroom, this distinction is not taxonmic.

Comment on Minor snow: Winter takes hold (1 of 5) by Jade Markham

Jade Markham — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:44:05 +0000

Hot off the press…. “Small scale Austi eatery usurps Tetsuya Wakuda for big Westinghouse endorsment”.

Comment on Start of winter: Pheasants enter water and turn into monster clams (5 of 5) by Jade Markham

Jade Markham — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:55:09 +0000

This is such a sad story.
The part with the skip reference made me shudder.
I had the same kind of experience myself,
with my usual gusto,
talking to Keith or Mike or Paul one day.
They take their knowledge for granted,
when it needs to be conserved.
They are all fatalists, you can tell,
they have seen it all,
from film to video to dvd, from sides to av and powerpoint,
can’t blame them though.
They ascribe to ‘obselete’
I personally won’t have a bar of it.
Can’t we just start again, with the knowledge that we have now?

Comment on Minor snow: Rainbows hide (3 of 5) by Lucas in Petersham

Lucas in Petersham — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:41:02 +0000

hey jo, where do you get these soil testing kits from? is there any way to test other things than ph level? levels of contamination, say?

Comment on Minor snow: Rainbows hide (4 of 5) by Lucas in Petersham

Lucas in Petersham — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:37:50 +0000

it's funny how land art, originally basing its forms on the processes of the farming and earthmoving industries, now becomes a form which you can refer back to as a template for your gardening work. I like these "Farmer Red" entries. They remind me of the narrative in a Richard Scarry book.

Comment on Minor snow: Rainbows hide (5 of 5) by Lucas in Petersham

Lucas in Petersham — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:42:24 +0000

ok jo – public education time!

what’s the difference between a toadstool and a mushroom?
and while we’re at it, between a toad and a frog?

i love fungus. john cage, too, was an avid “mushroom hunter” apparently…